January 14, 2005
Mayor Goes After Graffiti
The Mayor outlined his anti-graffiti plan yesterday, saying, "Graffiti is something for which our administration has zero tolerance...[it's] an invitation to criminal behavior." He formally announced that the antivandalism units of the NYPD and transit police would combine to form a graffiti-crime fighting unit, an idea mentioned and started last summer. The Times reported that since the formation of the new unit, there's been a 20% increase in arrests, contributing to a 78% increase in graffiti-related crimes for 2004. Tools that the police will be using: A database to track graffiti crime patterns (especially targetting repeat and the top 100 offenders), infrared cameras, and a reward program that offers $500 to anyone who reports a graffiti incident that results in an arrest and conviction. Gothamist understands why the mayor feels he needs to do that, as many neighborhood groups, especially in the Bronx, complain about graffiti, but in some instances, it can be a way for people to express themselves. And Gothamist wonders if graffiti and street art are one and the same to the Mayor.
Gothamist finds the Mayor's Anti-Graffiti Task Force homepage hilarious, if only because it's the only city government page we've seen so far with a black background...ooh, that must mean they are especially down with street crime...updated: it looks like the city changed the page to some staid and standard bureaucratic looking stuff! Update #2: We love Google and cache! See the screenshot here.
Check out Art Crimes for graffiti from all over and Wooster Collective for street art. Here's a mobile photoblog of graffiti from Bluejake.
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I gotta go with the mayor on this one. While I agree there is a huge difference between graffiti and street art thatshould be recognized, I remember back in the day when we were absolutely overwhelmed with graffiti. It was everywhere. You felt liek if you blinked someone was going to take the opportunity and tag your forehead. I think if you let it get out of control it really does send a message that no one cares about where they live and it becomes an invitation to other criminal activities. The execution may definitely be titter-worthy, but I gotta give Bloomy his points for taking care of the details.
I gotta go with the mayor on this one. While I agree there is a huge difference between graffiti and street art thatshould be recognized, I remember back in the day when we were absolutely overwhelmed with graffiti. It was everywhere. You felt like if you blinked someone was going to take the opportunity and tag your forehead. I think if you let it get out of control it really does send a message that no one cares about where they live and it becomes an invitation to other criminal activities. The execution may definitely be titter-worthy, but I gotta give Bloomy his points for taking care of the details.
Where is this black background Mayor's Task Force page at?
i'd like to know how much this plan costs before getting behind it. it seems like it could suppress the unique culture of new york.
One can only hope that this move dramatically reduces the idiots who move here from the midwest et al to 'bomb' the city... reminds me in a way of growing up on the Jersey Shore, and all the bennies who'd come just for the summer and litter EVERYWHERE.
As much as I enjoy spraycan art, I can understand why the city wants to go after people who deface public property. Let's face it, for every great top-down job, there are a dozen shoddy hack jobs.
At the same time, I have an issue with Bloomy's quote, "[graffiti is] an invitation to criminal behavior," and the idea that once you punish the vandals, quality of life will somehow improve.
Graffiti, like many urban crimes, is a symptom, not the source of the problems.
"I can understand why the city wants to go after people who deface public property."
Another problem is that it's not just public property, but private buildings, houses and garages as well. I didn't know any kids that differentiated between tagging up on the school yard or subway station and tagging up on the side of an apartment building or store.
wow, nyc is becoming more a more like 1970's kansas and vice versa.
won't stop a thing no matter how hard they try to curb it
ok, subwaybombers of the world. if have the change to go to amsterdam real soon your lucky couse it seems that they have a new policy. they clean subways once in two weeks. so subways in travic for two weeks!!!! looks like the old days have a come back!
What bugs me more than taggers are the corporate adverffitis that use the streets as free ad space.
That "I heart Sweatshop Labor" crap is all over my neighborhood and I can confirm that they don't wash off with rain. Yet, the NYPD arrests the Bikes Against Bush organizer when he wasn't chalking the sidewalk.
GRAFFITI IS A CRIME ONLY WHEN WRITTING ON A RISTRICKTED CLEAN PROPERTY.BACK IN THE DAYS GRAFFITI WAS A MAYOR THING IN THE LATE 70,S AND EARLY 80,S BUT NOW THINGS HAS CHANGED AND SO DID THE WORLD AND OF COUSRE THE LAW TO.YOUNG KIDS OF THIS NEW GENERATION ARE STILL TO YOUNG TO REALIZE THAT WHEN THEY O.D AND OVER DO IT TO GET PEOPLE ANGRY AND HATEFULL TOWARDS GRAFFITI THEY JUST MAKING IT HARDER AND MORE WORST FOR US ADULTS IN THE GAME.
i'm surprised by the overwhelming anti-graf sentiment on this post. i think it's reasonable to oppose petty vandalism, crappy tagging, and inappropriate placement of pieces, but good graffiti and streetart add some wonderful elements to the visual life of a city. in fact, i know i'm in a good city when i see graf- it's the places that are totally scrubbed and sterile that are always boring.
theres no difference between advertisments and graffiti. as long as there is bombardments of ads there should be tags. a tagless building is ugly and has no life of its own. the city is ugly concrete, so why not paint it
Jake, the deal is that graffiti is great but the main reason it had such prevalence in the 1970s and 1980s was the city was falling to crud. So the graffiti was a natural offshoot. Nowadays, NYC is basically filled with tons of quite fragile out of towners who get frightened if they happen to stroll into Loisaida or get off one stop too late on the L train.
Now I know some would say that's yuppie bashing. And maybe it is. But as I see every damned parking lot in Manhattan and parts of Brooklyn being developed, I have to wonder if NYC will still be NYC, or is it slowly turning into Chicago East.
This place is just becoming too generic. And the vast negative reaction to graffiti on this post really reflects the nature of modern young New Yorkers who have no idea what they missed and are missing.
This is total BS. The Mayors intentions and the post on this site.
We have absolutely NO control of our surroundings. Graffiti is the most direct way to influence it. To the folks that support the criminalization of "street art", when was the last time Citibank asked you for some crappy tagline to go in their propaganda?
Or maybe you work for the marketing agency that makes them!
"End the Opppression of checking account charges and Graffiti" should be your next suggestion to the corporate swine that thank you for reinforcing the belief that property can be private and owned.
I find it absurd that someone can "sell" space on their building that has ugly pictures of people/things that are trying to be sold to me...hmm sounds like this might be the backbone for something called CAPITALISM!?!??!!!!
thanks for killing NYC, drive that shank just a bit further into our necks, and we'll end up homogeous like Portland,OR. where drabness and yuppies are the only things to be seen
The Visual Resistance collective is looking for a bunch of info on things like; "The Broken Windows" theory, REAL info on the escalation from graffiti to other crimes (if it does happen), and how much money is wasted on "public art" made by pretentious white men.
If you can help out with any of this check out
and drop us a line at the email posted here or on our site.
Oops the site didnt come up on that last post, its
www.visualresistance.org
up with art!
I don't care what anyone says, graffiti and street art go hand in hand. Graffiti paved the way for street art so people need to stop acting like street art is some new movement because it is not. Just because in the past 2 or 3 years a bunch of art school kids decided to go out and try their hand at vandalism does not make it some new art movement. I happen to like both, but I do not like the fact that street art is more accepted than graff. That is such BS. Gettin up is gettin up whatever way you choose to do it. How are you gonna put down someone for expressing oneself with a tag and say that isn't art or is not as acceptable as "street art". It is someone's form of expression just as much as a character or any other kind of art. Also, street artists go right over tags with their art as if it is better. Very funny since their whole influence comes from graffiti. Like it or not graffiti paved the way for whatever is being done today. People need to respect that and stop trying to justify street art and putting down graff.